Summer beard?

by Jarad FrimmelAugust 22, 2016

This is one of the funniest beard myths and for anyone who regularly sports a beard, you know it’s far from the truth. In fact, a beard actually helps to keep you cooler. It covers your face, chin and neck protecting it from the sun. When you run really hard and do all those intervals, your skin is going to sweat, and when that happens, your beard turns into a cooler for your face as those summer breezes blow by. You’ll feel cool and refreshed at the pool and at the beach every time your beard gets wet. You’ll stay cool and comfortable rather than hot with a beard.

The idea that the Beard makes the face warmer is probably based on the effect that is felt in the winter - the same shielding effect that is experienced as warmth in the cold winter weather. To understand this better, think of the Beard like a patch of bushes. In the winter time, crawling under a bush is a great way to escape the elements - which is exactly what all kinds of different animals do. Now think of that same patch of bushes in the summer, in the screaming-ass heat. Nice and cool under there right? In addition to this simple concept, scientists in Australia actually found that the Beard can block up to 95% of UV rays from the sun. The Beard does also act as an evaporative cooler as well, as sweat from the skin evaporates and creates a flow of air out of the Beard which has a cooling effect. Combined with the shielding effect of the Beard, this can keep you even cooler than not having a Beard at all!